Grid Edge Security

Through research, analysis, tools, stakeholder engagement, and standards development, NREL studies distributed energy resources and develops cybersecurity solutions to secure the clean energy transformation.

Illustration of wind turbines on hill , elevation lines on hill, and wind lines forced toward and away from the turbine blades, with binary code overlayed.

Focus Areas

Advanced Communications

NREL is evaluating the ability of 5G communications to control distributed devices and address the inherent cybersecurity risks of increased interconnections among edge devices and the electric grid. We leverage a microgrid at the Flatirons Campus and 5G network implementations to understand the fundamental system architecture, limitations, and benefits of advanced wireless to enhance energy system security and resilience.

Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure

An estimated 182,000 fast chargers are needed to accommodate 30–42 million light-duty vehicles on the road by 2030. To understand the impact of this expansion while ensuring a secure national charging network, we aim to:

Assess high-consequence cyber events for fast chargers
Engage industry to develop interoperable and robust integration systems between charge network and device stakeholders, including public key infrastructure systems
Establish strategies to integrate cybersecurity as an intrinsic design principle into existing infrastructure
Evaluate the security of electric vehicle (EV) supply equipment and applications
Develop modeling and simulation environments to evaluate test scenarios with the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems Cyber (ARIES) Range
Establish test methodologies for EV supply equipment that enable the use of cyber performance metrics.

This work—in collaboration with Argonne, Sandia, Oak Ridge, Idaho, and Pacific Northwest national laboratories—contributes to the EVs@Scale Consortium to accelerate the deployment of secure architectures for EV and charging infrastructure.

Solar, Wind, and Storage

NREL is advancing the cybersecurity of distributed and inverter-based resources—including solar, storage, and wind—through assessment tools and technical assistance, standards development, and industry engagement.

Projects

The U.S. Department of Energy Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute researches, develops, and implements a national vision for manufacturing cybersecurity. NREL is supporting the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute through the buildout of a digital platform for workforce development, expertise for secure manufacturing architectures, and foundational research and development to protect manufacturers against adversaries and cybercriminals. The Institute introduces a cyber-secure return on investment for energy-efficient manufacturing and supply chains.

NREL's Building Intelligence with Layered Defense Using Security-Constrained Optimization and Security Risk Detection project protects smart buildings from cyber intrusions by leveraging buildings' network and physical data to identify attacks. Integration with the ARIES Cyber Range allows researchers to emulate cyberattacks on buildings and develop advanced network defenses. A follow-on project is assessing cyber risks and providing mitigation strategies to improve building security in disadvantaged communities.

In collaboration with Idaho and Oak Ridge national laboratories, NREL evaluated the cybersecurity risks and challenges associated with EV fast-charging stations. Researchers evaluated high-consequence cyber events for EV fast chargers, leveraging the ARIES Cyber Range to connect a fast charger in the laboratory to an emulated distributed energy system. Using the cyber range, researchers can compare attack scenarios to existing security protocols, identify vulnerabilities, and refine cybersecurity protection and mitigation strategies.

NREL is also evaluating the application of public key infrastructure—a method for encrypting information exchange and certifying the authenticity of devices—to help ensure digital trust between vehicles and charging stations. This convenes various automakers and the EV charging sector in a cooperative effort led by SAE International to strengthen EV cybersecurity through industry engagement in precompetitive research.

5G communications can facilitate the operation of the future grid with greater data flow, low latency, and robust edge control while assisting with cyber defense. We're evaluating the ability of 5G communications to enhance the resilience of microgrid controls and mitigate threats on increasingly complex distributed energy networks using a microgrid test bed—consisting of batteries, solar photovoltaics, and loads. Researchers are using the platform to test unique operations and threat scenarios for military and commercial sector applications. This work is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, the Renewable Energy and Storage Cybersecurity Research project is a multi-laboratory effort, led by NREL, that is analyzing and addressing cybersecurity concerns for hybrid energy systems that include wind, solar, and energy storage.

Featured Publications

5G Securely Energized and Resilient: Task 2 and 3 Progress Report, NREL Technical Report (2023)

Cyber-Informed Engineering Implementation Guide, Idaho National Laboratory Report (2023)

Gap Analysis of Supply Chain Cybersecurity for Distributed Energy Resources, NREL Technical Report (2023)

Supply Chain Cybersecurity Recommendations for Solar Photovoltaics, NREL Technical Report (2023)

Cybersecurity Considerations for Distributed Energy Resources on the U.S. Electric Grid, DOE Technical Report (2022)

Partnerships

Our technologies and laboratory capabilities support our partners in securing their operations and developing the next innovations in cybersecurity. Learn more about partnering with NREL.